Chapter 147 Someone Poisoned the Gallery
This was the exhibit hall Catherine overheard the workers gossiping about last night—the one with all the problems. To dodge any blame and clear her name, Jennifer messed with the materials in the exhibit hall Elijah was in charge of. All she had to do was to find the main stress point of the load-bearing column, give it a little push, and bam! The whole thing would collapse into the ruins everyone was staring at now.
The employees Catherine called over looked totally confused, thinking, 'What the heck is going on? Thank goodness no one was here. If this had happened with visitors inside, our gallery would be toast!'
Elijah's legs were shaking. "What is all this? I swear, I had no idea! Please, believe me, I didn't know anything about the materials in this exhibit hall."
Catherine stayed calm. "You're responsible for this exhibit hall, and you claim you didn't know there were issues with the materials? You haven't checked on this place since it was built, have you?"
"I've been swamped with other stuff, Ms. Windsor. You have no idea how much I have to handle here. I really don't have time to oversee everything," Elijah explained.
Catherine sneered, her eyes on the ruins. "I'm reporting this to the police."
This whole mess was just a result of the internal feud between Elijah and Jennifer, with the Hughes family taking advantage of the chaos.
"You two are fighting amongst yourselves and dragging others into it, making a show in front of the employees and forcing them to pick sides. If I remember right, Odette was Jennifer's intern, wasn't she?" Catherine asked.
'Elijah is just making things hard for Odette out of spite! It's so unfair to pick on a new intern,' Catherine thought.
"Ms. Windsor! I really didn't know about this. Please don't let the police take me away. The gallery still needs me. I've done so much for this place over the years!" Elijah pleaded.
Catherine stayed indifferent. "I know this incident isn't your fault, but what about everything else? You sent me the evidence of Jennifer's crimes, right? Funny enough, Jennifer also sent me evidence of your wrongdoings. You don't need to explain anything to me."
Elijah had been embezzling funds, bullying employees, and pocketing the wages of many junior staff members, even cutting their basic benefits. Those junior employees, fresh out of school, didn't even know about labor arbitration. Elijah had brainwashed them into thinking they should sacrifice for the gallery, all in the name of art.
Brandon had flagged this data yesterday, leaving it for Catherine to handle. After all, the gallery was now Catherine's responsibility, and Brandon didn't want to interfere too much. He had even thought it through: if Catherine didn't catch these issues, he would quietly deal with them himself to make sure she wouldn't be upset.
"Ms. Windsor, you can't do this. I'm innocent!" Elijah cried.
"Innocent or not, tell it to the police." Catherine turned away and handed Elijah over to the waiting officers, then walked into the office.
At the office entrance, a group of nervous employees had gathered. Even though Elijah had tormented them, seeing Catherine take down both Elijah and Jennifer so quickly made them worry they might be next.
Catherine looked up, her expression cold. "Who's Elijah's assistant?"
A guy in the crowd raised his hand. "It's me, my name is Landon Fisher."
"Alright, Landon, you're taking over all of Elijah's duties for now. I need you to gather everything Elijah did that hurt the company's interests. Can you handle that?" Catherine asked.
"I can! Thank you, Ms. Windsor, for the promotion!" Landon said, thinking, 'I never thought I'd see the day! Elijah always kept me down, afraid I'd get close to Ms. Windsor and steal his power. Now, she's handed it right to me!'
"Who's the deputy manager in charge of the exhibit hall?" Catherine asked.
"That's me. My name is Sarah Turner."
"From now on, you're taking over Jennifer's work. Whether you keep this position depends on your performance."
Sarah was thrilled and promised, "Don't worry, I'll prove myself!"
Sarah thought, 'I've been with the gallery for twenty years. Most of the exhibit halls Jennifer managed were based on my designs. No one knows them better than I do!'
Catherine assigned a few more people to new roles. The employees, who had been feeling down, were now buzzing with energy.
"One last thing, we're not opening today. The police are taking all our paints and canvases for testing. I suspect someone poisoned them," Catherine said.
"Poisoned!" Sarah was shocked. "Ms. Windsor, who would do that? We use those canvases and paints every day!"
If someone had poisoned them, no one in the gallery would have been safe.
"Don't worry, just cooperate with the police," Catherine reassured. She had already checked and knew the poisoned items hadn't been used yet, and the existing paintings were safe.
The police soon brought up the investigation report. "Ms. Windsor, your gallery's paints contain a large amount of sarin, also known as Methyl Fluorophosphonate Isopropyl Ester. The canvases also have toxic chemicals, and there's something in the drinking water in your office that could be fatal if ingested."
The employees gasped, thinking, 'Not only the canvases and paints, but even Ms. Windsor's drinking water is contaminated? Who could be so bold? This is insane!'
Catherine already knew which items were problematic; she was just confirming the quantities. "Thank you, we'll cooperate with the investigation and replace these items as soon as possible."
After recording the data and backing up all the surveillance footage, Catherine saw the police off and turned to Sarah and Landon. "Is everything handled?"
"Yes! The paints and canvases have been taken away. Some surveillance footage is missing, but we found most of it."
The entire gallery staff's opinion of her had completely changed! Catherine wasn't just Dominic's student; she was composed and elegant. Even in this situation, she stayed calm, occasionally comforting the employees while cooperating with the police, becoming their rock.
Everyone's eyes instinctively followed Catherine. That slender, confident figure stood at the gallery entrance, hands in her pockets, hair flowing in the wind, exuding a queen-like aura!
Catherine spoke calmly, "No work today. Go home and rest. Your wages will be paid as usual. Organize all the items and data. I want to see a brand new gallery in the future. No more scheming, no more exploiting employees."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Meanwhile, Esme, wrapped up tightly, got into a car on the street, looking around nervously. Michael looked at her with disdain. "What are you afraid of?"
Esme gritted her teeth. "Michael, what I'm giving you is very important. It must not be discovered!"
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